Weirdness: Chibi-Robo! Photo Finder Has a Virtual Butt Removed in North America

Chibi-Robo! Photo Finder is out now on the 3DS eShop in North America, and is certainly a title full of charm and potential. It utilises the device's camera for a quirky object finding quest, bringing back the franchise that began on GameCube and had two DS releases, one of which was Japan-only.

As has proven the case with various titles over recent months and years, however, the process of localisation can lead to some strange changes and, in some cases, censorship. Chibi-Robo! Photo Finder is no different, as it's had a virtual butt removed in the North American version. While a cartoon bum on a talking can may not seem like the most offensive thing in the world, it has nevertheless disappeared.

You can see the evidence below, courtesy of YouTuber WiiFolderJosh. Chibi-Robo! Photo Finder won't be responsible for corrupting the minds of children, no siree!

From the web

Welsh ex-pat Tom is responsible for the day-to-day running of the site. He's the guy to thank for the generally brilliant nature of the content which massages your eyeballs on a daily basis. Also has an unhealthy obsession with all things Bowser.

@element187 not necessarily. Stuff like that just gets "censored", because of the american culture. I doubt they would've changed it in the PAL versions if those were localised first, but the rating organisations in the US seem to have a soft spot for things like that, while the same thing applies to blood and gory scenes here in Europe (well at least for the USK, I think PEGI is slighty less strict)

We in the United States believe its offensive to have a virtual butt on a can in a video game, but it's totally fine to dress a 16 year old girl in a 2 piece bikini and make her dance around on stage lip syncing and grinding up on 22 year old boys.

How long until the review? I never played the Gamecube original or the DS sequels, but I do know some of them are quite emotional. I was kinda put off by the photo gimmick, but if ends up being another well-crafted platformer with a heartwarming storyline, I may just give it a go.

@AllRemember that there is a demo out in NA for Chibi-robo. I downloaded it last night thinking eh, i'll just give it a quick try and delete. To my surprise, i actually liked it. Going to continue the demo until i complete it, wait for the review and I might end up getting this one. Try it out if you have doubts. Free Demo in the eShop!

To me, this looks less like censorship and more like rebranding to make the scene more familiar to a different audience.It's not like it's the same can, just with a butt removed. It's an entirely different can.

Yeah, in the UK things have gotten silly with the censorship too. Like with the anti-ninja movement in the 80's that forced Konami to sell their Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles games under the name Teenage Mutant HERO Turtles.

Ninja Gaiden was changed to Shadow Warriors.

Not as bad as Contra being transformed into a game about robots though (Probotector)

Damn you, Reggie!! NoA sometimes can have a very close minded attitude : / It's just a silly cartoony butt, why the censorship? It's even useful because that way you can identify wich is the front and the back of the object. This is why we barely have some cool and crazy games that Nintendo Japan releases.

It's not like the butt was graphic, it's a can for crying out loud. I believe that it got censored because the can is a woman. On tv here, it is more accepted to see a male butt than to see a female without the program being rated tma or rated r.

Well, regardless if you agree with censorship or not, it's always been around, and it'll always be around. And it's not just Nintendo. It's certainly not just NoA. Everyone censors their games to some extent when localizing. That's just how it is. Games get rated, and ratings matter. And I know some people don't want to accept this, but there are alot of uber-sensitive people out there, who never fail to get offended at things. There are over 300 million citizens in the US alone. And alot of them are stupid enough to make a fuss about even the smallest things. Sometimes, it's just better to take the butt off the can of fruit, ya know?

@AndrewroxsoxThat's actually a good point. Only FEMALE behind is considered nudity on cable now, am I wrong? I know some TV shows have slapped me silly with a sudden random naked dude standing there. I'm like, why? Why would you do this to me?

I find it funny how most people are so passive of this and don't really care. Yet the second they find out Nintendo censored some slight exposure on some seductive female characters (Fire Emblem & Bravely Default) the entire internet is all "NO! THIS IS REPRESSING THE ORIGINAL WORKS AND CREATIONS OF THE PEOPLE WHO WORKED HARD TO MAKE THIS GAME! WILL NOT BUY! WILL NOT BUY! DO NOT SUPPORT CENSORSHIP! NINTENDO IS TREATING US LIKE KIDS!!!!"